CH 16: Miquella's Growth

Alistair :"Hey, Miq, what are you in the mood for?"

Miquella :"World domination."

Alistair :"That's ambitious. But easily achievable."

Miquella :"You are my world."

Alistair :"Awwww."

Miquella grinned :"..."

Alistair :"... OH!"

--------------------------

"I-it's... it's true... it's actually true! Hahaha, it's true!" Miquella smiled brightly at the reflection in the water. A smile so bright and happy and beautiful that made Alistair's heart skip a beat. He was staring down at his own reflection in the river, and if not for not wanting to look away, he would have been jumping up and down in excitement.

His pretty hands were all over his beautiful face, checking every nook and cranny to see if it was actually true. He hadn't aged much, only just one year. But to him, who had been stuck as a child for a hundred, or a thousand, or even a million years, –Alistair wasn't sure– it was still a massive improvement.

An improvement he was oh so pleased to see. Miquella had memorized every inch of his body's shape, in the hope of comparing it to his adult body for the day he would hopefully grow up. And now, as he marveled at his own slightly aged body, he could see everything that had changed.

Unfortunately however, he hadn't hit the age of puberty to get a massive change. He was still child-like. Oh, well, that would come as well as soon as they figured out what had caused the change. And besides, it wasn't like Alistair wasn't already mesmerized by Miquella's newly improved beauty.

"But how could this be?" He turned to Alistair, his smile not changing in the slightest, and the noiret had to resist with all his will to not kiss him in that instant :"How could I have possibly just grown suddenly?"

"The power of horny. Maybe you'll grow even more when we fuck a bit more?" Alistair wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Miquella to roll his eyes in amusement :"Haha, very funny. There's no way that's true. Seriously though, do you know anything? Perchance, did something weird happen when I was sleeping?"

"Yeah, actually, it did." Alistair nodded, gaining his full attention :"While we were sleeping, you suddenly began to glow. I nearly went blind since I was hugging you, but fortunately, I'm okay. I thought you were just going to be forcibly sent back to my mind.

It had never happened outside of teleporting between Sites of Grace, but I thought it was because you were so tired. But when the golden light disappeared after a few seconds, you were still in my arms. I thought it was weird, so I looked if something happened to you.

And... welp, count me surprised when I saw that you had grown up. I didn't wake you up though, since you were so tired. Thought I'll let you have all the energy to be excited. And guess I made the right decision."

"Hahahaha, that's true." Miquella chuckled, before cupping his chin thoughtfully :"But seriously, what could have been the cause of this? What did we do that we don't do normally? No, I already said it's definitely not that, so stop grinning. Hmm... wait, could it have been the Sacred Tear you drank?!"

Alistair's eyes widened, putting jokes aside as he scratched his chin :"Now that you mention it, it could be that. I felt a surge of energy when I drank it, but I thought it was only for boosting the flasks."

"I can confirm your suspicion is correct, Miquella." Melina appeared with a blue mist, catching their attention :"As Alistair's Finger Maiden, I am sensitive to what happens inside of his body.

When he consumed the Sacred Tear in this church, not only did it enhance the potency of the Crimson and Cerulean Flasks he consumes, but I also felt how the bond connecting the two of you was empowered. So, yes, the change is because of the Sacred Tear and not the "horny", dear Tarnished."

"Aww..." He whined, mocking disappointment as Miquella's eyes shone with excitement :"If that's the case... that means I can grow by just finding more Sacred Tears! Where are they, Alistair?!" He closed the distance, grabbing Alistair's arms and shaking him :"Do you know their location?! You must know, right?! Right?! RIGHT?!"

"M, Miquella, calm down hahahaha!" The noiret laughed. Seeing the calm Miquella acting so excited was pretty amusing after all. The blond femboy stopped, but his shining eyes still urged him to speak :"Yes, I do know, alright? So, please, calm down for a moment."

"Calm down?! This is no time to calm down!" His smile grew :"Come on, we need to find more! As quickly as possible! We need to pack our bags as soon as possible! Torrent! Where is he? Torrent!"

"Miquella, calm down!" Alistair finally grabbed him by the shoulders, making him face him :"I know you're excited, alright? I understand. But you need to calm down. Take a deep breath, okay? In, and out. In, and out."

Listening to him, Miquella followed his breathing pattern and finally slowed down. The Tarnished raised his eyebrow :"We calm?"

The boy god took another deep breath and exhaled :"We calm." He nodded :"We calm now. I'm sorry, I got too excited. I apologized."

Alistair smiled and gently slapped his shoulders :"Don't worry, I get it. Anybody would have the same reaction. But as much as I understand, I need you to calm down. Because, I'm sorry, but the other ones aren't nearby at all. There are only 12 Sacred Tears in the entire Lands Between, and only one in Limgrave. So if we want to get more, I need you to be patient."

Miquella whined, his disappointment apparent :"Really? Aren't there any nearby at all?"

Alistair shook his head :"No, there aren't. But don't worry though, because after we're done with our current goal, we can go to Weeping Peninsula right away. It's connected to Limgrave and there are actually three Sacred Tears there! And also, there's one in Caelid which is also pretty close to where we're going?

Just be a bit patient, and believe me, you're gonna look older than me after we get all of them. Then you're going to worry about being in trouble for being in a relationship with me."

As disappointed as Miquella was, he still couldn't help but chuckle at his joke. But still, Alistair's words gave him hope. And besides, he had been patient all his life. What's a few weeks of months at most?

He nodded with a smile :"Alright, I'll be patient. But right after we're done with your business, we're going for those Sacred Tears, alright? Deal?"

"Deal." They nodded with serious smiles. Melina, who was once again ignored by them entering their own world, rolled her eyes. Well, eye. But it was obvious that she didn't mind. In fact, she was happy to see the development in her favorite ship first hand.

"How about you two get dressed first?" She addressed the elephant in the room :"As much as I enjoy the view, Alistair might wish to devour you again if you stay like that, Miquella. Especially since you've grown in both age and beauty now."

Miquella, with an embarrassed yelp, quickly covered his member. His beautiful face blushing at Alistair's lustful smile :"Now that she mentioned it..." His eyes traveled down Miquella's body, making him shiver. Albeit small, there were still hints of growth. Especially regarding the width of his hips. He really was Malenia's brother. He had aged only one year, but that genetic amazing hip to waist ratio was already beginning to shine. He was dying to see him as an adult. "How about we-"

"N-no!" He quickly refused, avoiding his gaze :"I... I-I'm still... spent from before, okay? I can't go for another round of trying to satisfy your unending vigor again so quickly..."

"Aww..." Alistair whined in disappointment. But Miquella, with a blush, tucked away a few strands of golden hair behind his ear. His shyness already disappearing as he smiled shyly, hiding excitement behind it :"W-we can do it later on, when we've recovered fully, okay? I-it's just that I'm just too tired right now."

The noiret's eyes widened before smiling lewdly :"Oh~, then I'll look forward to that, darling." Making the golden femboy purse his lips with a smile. Oh, how Melina wished she had a way of capturing moments like this of her favorite ship in a painting.

-

"Alright, we're finally ready to go!" Two days later, in the morning, after having finished all preparations, the duo stood in front of the teleporter at the end of the river, somewhat hidden. They had spent the entirety of yesterday getting ready.

Going back to the camp of Godrick's soldiers to take all of their new supplies, earning runes while doing so, taking so much water they nearly emptied the river, and gathering consumable fruits and hunting animals for extra food. It wasn't like Caelid was the only uninhabitable location of the Lands Between. Liurnia of the Lakes wasn't that much better either.

[Runes: 2,036 -> 3,264]

"Alright then, shall we go?" Miquella smiled as Alistair checked his inventory one last time before closing it :"Yes, we shall. Now, off to Caelid!"

Touching the waygate, he felt the same sensation of traveling between Sites of Grace. Instant change of view as he suddenly found himself in a new place, in front of what could be called a castle. Checking to see if there was no danger, –well, beside the giant ass Black Blade Kindred standing guard– he summoned Miquella out again.

"Uncle Maliketh is here- oh God!" But jumped when he saw the unmoving Black Blade Kindred. He looked at his consort in worry, whispering hurriedly :"Alistair, be careful! Quickly, hide!"

"Calm down, Miq." But the noiret smiled and patted his head, noticing the growth in his height once again :"That thing will only attack if we had come here by foot. But since we took the hidden waygate, it assumes we are friendly. It won't attack us as long as we don't attack it."

"O-oh, is that so? Haaah, thank goodness." Miquella sighed in relief :"Made me worry so much when I suddenly saw it. But... this is Caelid, huh?"

Ruins, as far as the eye could see. The scarlet rot was in the air, they could smell it. But thankfully, it didn't seem to have an effect outside of being unpleasant. The trees had withered entirely and even seemed to have mutated. Fortunately, they weren't moving around or attacking. The entire road was dirt, without any grass plains or life in sight.

"This... is a lot worse than I had expected..." Miquella frowned :"Once, I did make my way to Caelid after the battle between Malenia and Radahn, but it was nowhere as severe as this. At that time, the scarlet rot had only affected the Swamp of Aeonia and only the close surrounding regions. But after so many years, it seems..."

Alistair nodded, arms folded :"Yeah. Worst part is, this is literally the northern end of Caelid, yet it has rotted even these parts. This place is actually much better than the other places, believe it or not."

Miquella sighed sadly :"No, I believe you. These lands... they must be healed when we reach our goals. With the power of a God, I'm sure I'll be able to heal them. Best case scenario, instantly. Worst case scenario, with time. But it's not the time yet. For now, we need to proceed. Is Uncle Maliketh inside of this sanctum?"

"Yes, it is. Then let's go meet the coolest guy in your entire fucked up family!" He grinned, making his way to the iron doors and opening them. These ones, however, needed a bit of a struggle. He had to quickly get stronger, they reminded him.

Walking in, they looked around. The decorations were quite... unique. Statues of dogs' skeletons sticking to pillars, chained to them, and arching their backs as if sexually. It weirded them both out. The walls and pillars were decorated with carvings, and they also noticed the small dragon statues holding torches to light up the place.

Looking ahead, they finally saw the Site of Grace in the place, along with the elephant in the room. Well, more like the wolf, who was hiding behind a cloak. "Uncle Maliketh?"